Life-preserver.



D. J. DEMAS.

LIFE PRESERVER.

LIGATION FILED M011 1912.

Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1v gmeowow D. J DEMAS.

LIFE PRBSBRVER.

APPLIOATION rum) DBO 11, 1912v Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

3 SHBETS SHEET 2.

l'vbbncooco D. J DEMAS LIFE PRESBRVER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 11 I912.

Patented Apr. 29, 1.913

3 SHEETS SHEET 3.

3&6

IlJl] emas- QM/m 1 914440 OOQO DEMETRIOB J. DEMAB, OF PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA.

mrE-ransnavsn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1 913.

Application tiled December 11, 1912. Serial No. 738,227.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DEMETRIOS J. DEMAB, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at Pittsburgh, in the county of Alleghen State of Pennsylvania,have inventet certain new and useful Improvements in Lifelreservcrs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

and has particular reference to a device of and i this characterprovided with novel means whereby the operator may readily travelthrough the water in desired directions.

An im ortant object of this invention is to provi tioned character, thata person may securely attach to the same whereby he will not becomeseparated or which is so constructed e a life preserver of the abovemenhimself 1 disconnected therefrom in case he should fall asleep, faintor otherwise be- I come unconscious.

A further object of my invention is toprovide a life preserver of theabove men-.

tionedcharacter, which will'support the operator in the most comfortablemanner"; so that he will not become unduly fatigued A further objectofmy invention is to a life preserver of'the. above men-1 provide.

tioned character, which is strong, durable and cheap to manufacture.

Other ob'ects and advanta es of the mof the following escription.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame, Figure 1 is a side view of the life preserver complete, shOWin theoperator in place within. the same, ig. 2 is a plan viewof the completelife preserver, Fig. 3 iso longitudinal sec-.

tional view taken on line 3 3 of-F-ig. 2, Fig. 4 is a plan view of thelife preserver,

the upper section or sections of cork beinging the sections of corktothe main frame,

Fig. 8 is aside view of the improved form of screw, and, Fi 9 is adiagrammatic view showing a plum ity of life reservers connected with myimproved li c preserver.

In the drawlngs, wherein for the sake of I a'central opening 11 Myinvention relates to life preservers vention wil be apparent durmgthecourse the like.

illustration, I have shown a referred embodiment of my invention tienumeral 9 designates a main lon itudinal reinforcing frame, which isprefera ly formed of aluminum, although other suitable material may beemployed. This reinforcing frame coinprises an enlarged bodv portion 10,having formed therethroug 1 for receivin the passenger or operator. Thereinforcing frame 9 has portions thereof formed I-sha ed incross-section, as shown. The rein orcing frame 9 comprises a laterallyreduced forwardly extending portion 12, provided with a longitudinallyextendingpropeller openin 13, as shown. This opening 13 is prefers lyrectangular and has upstandin walls 14, as shown. The longitudinal wa ls14 are reinforced by upstandin ribs or lugs 16. The reinforcing frame 9urther comprises a forward nose or reduced port-ion 16, provided with alonitudinally extending opening 17, as shown.

he forward end of the nose 16 is provided with a longitudinal opening18, which lead into the opening 17. An eye bolt 19 or the like passesthrough the opening 18 and carries a nut or nuts 20, disposed within theopening 17. The function of this eye bolt is to provide attaching meanswhereby the life preserver may be coupled or connected with another lifepreserver or to a boat or Connected with the rear end of the enlargedbody portion 10, is a second eye bolt 21 or the like, forming meanswhereby any suitable number of life preservers may beconnected with myimproved life preserver.

Rigidly connected with the enlarged body ortion are de endin rods 22, tothe ower end of which are hinged or pivoted vertically swinging rods 23.These rods 23 carry at their lower ends a seat 24. The seat 24 isdisposed directly beneath the opening 11, to support the operatortherein. It is thus seen that the seat 24 by supporting the o erator orpassenger will prevent him from eing subjected to undu'e fatigue whilethe body portion 10 will securely hold him in place upon the seat andprevent him from slilpping-ofi' of the same should he fall as eep orotherwise become unconscious.

In order that the passenger or operator may travel through the water, Iprovide propelling means or the life preserver, such propelling meanscomprising a rotatable propeller including a hub 25, which is rigi-orlcor other suitable material that idly mounted upon a rot-atabletransverse. shaft 26. Connectedwith' the hub 25 aret propeller blades27. I preferably have two of the ropeller blades 27 which lieinwthersame p ane detachably connected with the. hub 25,. By, this means;these. propeller blades may be removed'and secured to the other twopropeller blades which 'maynow occu y a substantially horizontalposition withimthe opening-'13. This is done for lhepurpose of"protecting the propeller blades against 'bein broken when'the-life:preserver is-beings iippedlor is not in use. instead of 'h'aving only Itwo of'='the propeller blades detachably'con-nected with the -hubi allof them may be dctachablw connectedl therewith, if desi-redi Eachof'the' ropeller? blades-Q'Z'is detach'ably'connecte "w1thai chain orother flexible element 28; having itso posite-end permanently-connectedwit l the 'ub'25. Th'e'function-of th'is chain*28"! is to prevent the'pr cller' 'blade from 'turning upomits longitu inal'axis and prevent;the same from :being' lost in case it should i breakor-otherwise'be'disconnected' from' the; hub';-- The shaft) 26 isjournaled tliroughlbearings 28; formed u on the side' walls'=14,, as-sh'owm One endo-'theshaft-'QN-isjour-2 na'led throu h a bracket 29, which isanextension of t ie-main reinforcin' 'fra-me -andl ispreferably cast:integral t erewith'; asg sh'own: Ri'gidly connected" withtlitvouter endof the shaft 26)- is asmall-lpinion: '30,; mounted within th bracket29"and' driven l by alarge gear-"wheel' ill', asshown: Thisl large earwheel is 'rigidl. mounted u on a seeon v transverserotata le shaft 3 aslshowm The shaft 82 is journaled throughi upstanding "lugs or' bearin 88,which i are! )referably cast integrall with 'the reinforcing'frameand'braeket 29. The shaft 32isl rotated by a manually operated? crankor: handle 34. Disposed at the forwarden'd'of! the life' preserver andnear" and belowthe! nose 16' 1s a direction"rudder-35,- which is;rigidly connected with an upstandingrshaftl 36, which is -journal'cdthrough a'bearmg-37,, as shown. Rigidly' connected withthe!upper end of-the shaft Bll'is a lever 38' hav ing'connection at its endswith a'fiexibie' ele ment 39. This flexible elementmay b'e 'al section"of chain; cord', or: thelik'e; The! flexible element 89 passes throughguidea eyes orloops 40, mountedupon"removable! stri s41. Connected-withthe TBMPOItiOj'H of t e'flexibleelemem QST-are'sna 'liooks42! to havedetachable connection with fixed' e! bolts 43 or the lilde. Itisthusseew'thatzy' proper manipulationofthe fieXible-elementi 39 theoperator on passenger 'mayj steer'the! life 'preserver in the desireddirection.

Disposed'upon the upper'and 'lower sidesi of the main reinforcing frame9 'are"'Beparate 'forw ard' and rear'sections =44 mass- 5 .causethedevice to float. These sections of ,cork con-form generallytothe shapeof the main reinforcing frame 9, as shown. The upper: and lower sectionsof cork 44 are .properly secured to the main reinforcing frame-9b meansof im roved scre-wss lfi, as shown 1n F ig. 7. Eac screw comprises'a'screw 'element47 and an anchor or socket element 48, as shown. Thesocket element 48 is embedded within one of the sections 4A of'corkwhile -thescrew element 47' passes -through"-the'other sections 44:and into the sockeflor anchor' element 48, thesame also passin' ithroughan opening 49- formed th'roug thwextension =12 of the main frame.

'Th'ere ma'ybe -any suitable number of th'esc screws to hold thesections 44 together and ';they 1nay be suitably arranged as-1s found to'beadvantageousa The rear sections-'45 of =eork= are connected togetheror secured to the main reinforcing-frame hy 'any suitable number'of thescrews 46.

P The sectionsof corlo '44 and 1 46 are' covered by a'casinor'sheathing: Th'is-casin ';is preferably-- ormed of canvas-althoug anyother" suitably tough -and'- flexiblematerial may'be employed.The-casing ispreferably constructedintwo parts,- 50'and' 51. The'forwardart 50 is formed in' two sec tions 52, whic are laced'=together'at theirouter adj acent edges; as shown at' 53! Each 'of theswsections' 52 is"provided": with an opening 'fi' t to receive 'thelarge gear wheel 331ias l shown; Each: ofthe sections 1 52- is also' provided l with a'largecentral opening surrounding the" walls 14' of the propeller opening'lfiwEach secoonil'fi (formed of canvas ovi'the'like) has its'inaterinladjacent the o ening=*13f0lded back upon' itself 'forprovi ing 'pooketson hems lili (see-Fig. 0); withinz'whlch are'disposed" sections of wire56. The inneredgesvof the-heme 55 which hold: the -wires i 56;- as moreclearly shown in'Fig. 6; are' disposed within grooves 'onreoesses-IST,as shown. Thedongitudinal strips 41*h0ld these seotions-ofwire 56 with-'in th'egroovesa thus securely attaching the sections 52 with the mainreinforcing 'frame.

The strips 4l are held in :place by-screws- 58 or thelike At the forwardendsof'the 'str-ips 41"is -a-transverse=strip"59,' and it is'to-.be'understood--that the'section 62' is proivided with the sameconstruction below the 'strip- 29, asset-forthin connection with 'strips41. The rear part'51 of thecasing'is -formcd of' a single-sectionofcanvason the dike, having'itsinner'ad acent'edges suitab l-y-laccd'together,was-s own' at'60. The forward and I rear parts fio'and 61- arelaced 'to therg'as shown' at 61.

r p n Fig.4), which is a-diagrammatic view, haveshown my improved lifepreserver connected with a suitable number of life preservers'02,' bymcans of flexilileelements "($3. These life preserversmay be of any A254, thus rotating the propeller in either direction, depending upon thedirection in which he desires to travel. By manipulating the flexibleelement 39 the device may i he steered in either direction with respectto its lon 'tudinal travel.

It is to e understood that the form of m 1 invention, herewith hown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatcertain changes in the shape, size and arrangement. of parts ma beresorted to without departing from t e spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

lHaving thus described my invention, I c a1m:-

1. In a life preserver of the character described, a main reinforcinmetallic frame provided with an enlarge opening to re-' ceive the bodyof the operator or assen er and a propeller opening disposed orwardly ofthe enlarged openin section or sections of cork mounted upon t e frame,a propeller mounted within the propeller o ening, manually operatedmeans to rotate t a propeller, and a seat suspended from the remforcingframe and arranged below the enlarged opening to properly support theoperator or passenger.

2. In a life preserver of the character described, a main reinforcingmetallic frame having an enlarged rear portion provided with an enlargedopening to receive the body of the o erator or passenger and having aforwardl y extendin contracted portion provided with a prope er opening,a transverse shaft journaled throu h the forward contracted portion anda jacent the propeller opening, a propeller mounted within the propelleropening and connected with the transverse shaft, a pinion carried by thetransverse shaft, a laterally extendin r bracket carried by the forwardcontracted portion, a second transverse shaft journaled through thelaterally extending; bracket, a large gear wheel carried by the aecphdtransverse shaft and engaging the pinion, an upstanding shaft' journaledthrough the forward portion of the forward contracted portion, a rudderconnected with the upstandingi shaft, a lever connected with the upperen of the upstanding shaft, a flexible element connected with the leverand extending rearwardly adjacent the enlarged opening which receivesthe body of the operator or passenger, light floating material carriedby the ,reinforcing frame to cause the entire device to float, and meansto rotate the second named shaft.

3. In a life preserver of the character described, a main reinforcinmetallic frame, section or sections of cor disposed upon opposite sidesof the frame, a casing surrounding the section or sections of cork andthe metallic frame, said metallic frame being provided with grooves, thecasing being provided with pockets, rods disposed within the pockets andadapted to fit within thegrooves, plates disposed upon the rods toretain them within the grooves, and means connecting the plates with themetallic frame.

4. In a life preserver 0f the character described, a long rigid floatingstructure provided near its rear end with an opening to receive the bodyof the operator and provided forwardly thereof with a pro eller openingextending longitudinall o the floating structure, a seat connecte withthe body portion directly below the opening for receiving the operatorand disposed a suitable distance therebelow so that the operator will beheld in an upright position and prevented from slipping from theapparatus,-

a rotatable propeller mounted within the propeller opening, a crankdisposed near one longitudinal side of the floating structure and inconvenient reach of the operator when assuming the upright position, andspeed increasing driving connection means between the crank and therotatable propeller.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DEMETRIOS J. DEMAS.

Witnesses:

CALVIN T. MILANS, C. \V. Panama.

